Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Alerts
  • Advertising/recruitment
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Author's Takes
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • 100th Anniversary of Insulin's Discovery (Jan 2021)
    • Hypoxia-inducible factors in disease pathophysiology and therapeutics (Oct 2020)
    • Latency in Infectious Disease (Jul 2020)
    • Immunotherapy in Hematological Cancers (Apr 2020)
    • Big Data's Future in Medicine (Feb 2020)
    • Mechanisms Underlying the Metabolic Syndrome (Oct 2019)
    • Reparative Immunology (Jul 2019)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • Recently published
    • In-Press Preview
    • Commentaries
    • Concise Communication
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoint
    • Top read articles
  • Clinical Medicine
  • JCI This Month
    • Current issue
    • Past issues

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Author's Takes
  • Recently published
  • In-Press Preview
  • Commentaries
  • Concise Communication
  • Editorials
  • Viewpoint
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Alerts
  • Advertising/recruitment
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Dysfunction of the MDM2/p53 axis is linked to premature aging
Davor Lessel, … , Carol Prives, Christian Kubisch
Davor Lessel, … , Carol Prives, Christian Kubisch
Published August 28, 2017
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2017;127(10):3598-3608. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI92171.
View: Text | PDF
Concise Communication Aging Genetics

Dysfunction of the MDM2/p53 axis is linked to premature aging

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

The tumor suppressor p53, a master regulator of the cellular response to stress, is tightly regulated by the E3 ubiquitin ligase MDM2 via an autoregulatory feedback loop. In addition to its well-established role in tumorigenesis, p53 has also been associated with aging in mice. Several mouse models with aberrantly increased p53 activity display signs of premature aging. However, the relationship between dysfunction of the MDM2/p53 axis and human aging remains elusive. Here, we have identified an antiterminating homozygous germline mutation in MDM2 in a patient affected by a segmental progeroid syndrome. We show that this mutation abrogates MDM2 activity, thereby resulting in enhanced levels and stability of p53. Analysis of the patient’s primary cells, genome-edited cells, and in vitro and in vivo analyses confirmed the MDM2 mutation’s aberrant regulation of p53 activity. Functional data from a zebrafish model further demonstrated that mutant Mdm2 was unable to rescue a p53-induced apoptotic phenotype. Altogether, our findings indicate that mutant MDM2 is a likely driver of the observed segmental form of progeria.

Authors

Davor Lessel, Danyi Wu, Carlos Trujillo, Thomas Ramezani, Ivana Lessel, Mohammad K. Alwasiyah, Bidisha Saha, Fuki M. Hisama, Katrin Rading, Ingrid Goebel, Petra Schütz, Günter Speit, Josef Högel, Holger Thiele, Gudrun Nürnberg, Peter Nürnberg, Matthias Hammerschmidt, Yan Zhu, David R. Tong, Chen Katz, George M. Martin, Junko Oshima, Carol Prives, Christian Kubisch

×

Figure 1

Identification of a causative mutation in MDM2.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Identification of a causative mutation in MDM2.
(A) Pedigree of a consan...
(A) Pedigree of a consanguineous family (black and white circles and squares denote affected and healthy individuals, respectively; arrow indicates the index patient; diagonal lines indicate deceased status; double line shows parental consanguinity). (B) Facial image of the index patient IV:7 at the age of 19 years. Note the patient’s short stature (151 cm on the scale), prematurely gray hair, pinched facial features with a narrow nasal bridge, and small mouth. (C) Sequence chromatogram shows the c.1492T>C (p.*498Qext5) mutation (red arrow).
Follow JCI:
Copyright © 2021 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts